Those who think eating chocolate will make them fat can now easily give in to their cravings as a new study suggests that people who eat chocolate regularly tend to be thinner than those who eat it occasionally.

A new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine has revealed that people who habitually ate chocolate were slimmer than those who ate seldom, even though chocolate has too many calories.

Researchers observed the diets of 1,018 Americans aged between 20 to 85 years and kept a close watch on their calorie intake, regular chocolate consumption, body mass index and obesity measure.

They found that the frequency of eating chocolate helped in keeping lower body mass index and could reduce fat deposition in the body; however, they didn’t find any link with the quantity of consumption, BBC reported.

Our findings appear to add to a body of information suggesting that the composition of calories, not just the number of them, matters for determining their ultimate impact on weight, “ Dr. Beatrice Golomb, the lead author, from the University of California at San Diego, said.

The study explains that since chocolates are rich in antioxidant phytonutrients like catechins, it probably contributes to a favorable link between its regular consumption, blood pressure, insulin sensitivity, cholesterol levels and hence reduces weight.